I am 52 and have watched since i was a kid, Monaco has only been interesting with rain. A determined driver can keep everyone behind them, maybe have 3 qualis at monaco, as the race is farcical.

What we learned is that there should be at least two pitstops for tyre changes.

Thanks for the inside scoop! Monaco is Monaco and I hope it stays on the calendar forever. If anyone ever tried it in a sim you realize how skillful the drivers are if they survive 78 laps without hitting a wall. It’s mind blowing!

Quali in F1 cars. Then race in identical high spec karts! Won’t happen, but imagine it.

No need to reinvent the wheel for Monaco, just enforce it, quite literally, in the form of mandatory use of all 3 tire compounds during the race. Something I've wanted to see implemented for all races anyway.

I think that Monaco should be a sprint race weekend, but it’s not because I think two races would be exciting. It’s the thought of getting two qualifying sessions, on two different days, that gets me excited at the idea of a Monaco sprint weekend, especially as they’d get to change things with the setup for the second qualifying session. That way both Friday and Saturday would be way more interesting with the two qualifying sessions, the sprint would be as exciting as a practice session, and the race would remain the same.

1. Liberty Media could "experiment" with a Thunderdome Crash Festival ("Two men enter, one man leaves") event in which Sergio "Checo" Perez (Is this the end of Checo?) and Kevin Magnussen square off and run in opposing directions after qualifications to see which driver will back off or chicken out during each seceding lap. There are no rules at the Thunderdome Crash Festival just like Monaco. 2. Those dogs should be called Zhou(s), because they bring up the rear in the procession.

I agree that Monaco is different from every other race weekend, however it is exactly the same as all the weekends without a race.

Maybe in Monaco a different race format could be used. E.g. run one-car qualy-like laps on sunday, from slowest to fastest (as determined by saturday qualy), maybe 2 such sessions in a row. Just every driver trying to go around as quickly as possible and giving points for the time order. Or do that one year, and then the alternate year run the race with karts instead of F1 cars.

@F1Elvis You and Andrew Benson are the two reasons I listen to the BBC radio. It's your track-craft knowledge and Andrew's in-depth and wide span of the sport - which it still is when the red lights go out - which make it worthwhile.

Good to see you again, thank you,

Using Seedstream and i put a friend using it too :) Nice work. Glad to see these kind of videos again, i'm always look for the dog...

Use all tires compounds quick and easy fix

Gary Anderson had an idea to extend the "straight" through the tunnel by using land being reclaimed, but the chicane would need to be modified to allow an overtake to be possible.

For Monaco exceptionally, bring only softest C5 compound and full wets.

Monaco would be suitable as a season finale just like the final stage of the Tour de France 🙂 (the final order is already determined the one-before-last race, and the finale is just a parade)

glad you are back to doing these. I can resubscribe again

Make Monaco a 50 lap time trial, 10 second interval. Slowest first 😁✌🏽

Amazing that you can do these videos, apparently off the cuff while enjoying a wander with your dog(s?). I can't talk that long anyway, and certainly couldn't speak on a series of topics, coherently, with no notes or prompts. BTW - great content too. I'd think less of Newey if he went to Ferrari. They are clearly a Team that don't need a superstar tech leader, they are heading for the top anyway.

Just subscribed on the walk alone! Great property!

Great to see this back Marc and with Willis? Felt the same way about Monaco and give points during Qualis as that really determines the outcome of the race next day. Yuki Tsunodo would be a bullet in that alternate seat 🤷🏽‍♀️

Make the cars smaller like they used to be, that would be a great start for Monaco. Forcing the teams to use all 3 tire compounds could be another option.

Needs more than two pitstops to improve the Monaco GP.

Your app is unbelievably good. I’m so impressed with how it’s transformed! Well done 🎉

At the very least mandate 2 pitstops by requiring the cars to run all 3 tire compounds during a dry race. It's not a panacea but it will add some intrigue.

Its my favourite race of the calendar, the drivers have to be so precise but agree cars have out grown the track sadly. id change the track layout and go left at portier which could add two drs straights looping round back into thd tunnel.

thanks for the video from south africa 🇿🇦 ❤️

The best thing about the monaco GP is that the race is actually its qualifying. It produces the best qualifying you'll get. The biggest risks taken at the closest proximity to cameras and crowd. As a hillclimber I find it rare that anything that happens in an F1 race (other than the start) exceeds watching them actually going for it in Q2 and Q3. Even better then when you have a real reference for how fast they are going compared to the ridiculous airport sized tracks that are taking over. An exception is if it rains in the Monaco GP which is un-missable and any of the tracks that have some real consequences to an off. Having the Indy 500 and the Monaco GP on at the same time is an annual treat.

The corners before the strait there is room to go to the left and make the cirquit way longer.

F1 fans are right to express frustration. F1 commentators (not yourself, but a few in the old guard with big KZfaq audiences) are *not* right to tell F1 fans they're wrong. Fans are giving invaluable info, by expressing frustration and suggesting fixes. Ignore them enough, and they will just not say a thing as they'll be gone.

Enjoyed your dog following you through the fields.

doggo just chilling, so well behaved, surprised he didn't take deep in pond

Heres what I've been thinking and would love to hear what you think of this Marc: The idea of a reverse grid has been floating around for a while now. The traditional reverse grid to me is a bit artificial however I do think there is a way to implement it without it being too in your face. Say for example the Monaco GP weekend was a Sprint weekend, you got the SQ and Sprint on Friday as we currently do, then for the main quali on Saturday, take the finishing order of the Sprint Race and have the cars go out in a sort of one shot quali (pending final version of this idea lol), but with the idea that the winner goes out first and the last place goes out last so that the last placed in the sprint have a slight advantage because of the track evolution and maybe then we can get a bit more of a spice up. Hope this was as clear as muddy water!

Hi Marc, definitely make some changes to the layout to create some overtaking opportunities and add more space for fans, grandstands and activations etc...Get ACM/SBM to ask Liberty to take a stake in the changes so they have a vested long term interest in the GP. My suggestion as others have said is to utilise the seafront a bit more. But I actually think going off Casino square turning left onto Av de la Madone then right to join Avenue de Grande Bretagne would create an overtake opportunity then also have a good straight for an overtake into the hairpin where it joins Boulevard Larvotto on the seafront and then back along that to the tunnel with another overtake opportunity at Cipriani's/Japanese Garden and rejoin the existing track This also adds ~1.3km to the circuit shortening the race distance to 64 laps or 2 hours but also missing the bump near the tip top bar and that slower section so potentially creating an average lap speed that is also faster. And if HSH Prince Albert wants someone to project manage this then I'm available!

Love your pup!

Thanks Marc! The mandatory use of all 3 compounds would definitely spice things up, but what if it rains and the race stays wet? In that case, you would only see the full wets and perhaps the intermediate. Or you could get an even worse event because they would go even slower, to ensure that one set of full wets would last a race distance. Or perhaps with full wets that is never a possibility, I don't know. Changing the track layout is not an option, so you have to throw in something artificial as mandatory 2 stops to at least let strategy play an important part. So, yes, a mandatory 2 stop (and no change of compound allowed during a red flag) is the only option. And you could add the spectacle of 2 qualies by making it a sprint weekend.

Set a maximum 20 lap count per set of tires. Force the drivers to race.

Hi Elvis! Great podcast! 👍👍 I echo essentially everything you said about the Monaco GP! I personally would like to see 2 tyre stops made mandatory at race unfriendly circuits like this! With regards to Williams' potentially lofty trajectory in the near future...don't be surprised if we hear that Carlos Sainz is announced as their new driver later this year!! 😉😉 Furthermore, I cannot see how Red Bull can afford to continue next season & beyond with Checo in tow?? 😙😙 Right now they are only 24 points ahead of Ferrari in The WCC, and given the consistency of both drivers at Ferrari as well as McLaren...it surely won't be long until Red Bull are overtaken....unless Checo can get his act together Big Time in the next 3 - 5 races!!...Even The WDC Title this season might be a very realistic possibility for LeClerc, or Norris - given how fast Ferrari & McLaren seem to be progressing in comparison to Red Bull - who seem to be somewhat stagnating?? 😙😙

I love Monaco, i raced there in videogames from when i was a child and its a true classic. Also when you watch the onboards of lap one i love how they all touch since its so narrow. to fix racing there i would agree to the all three tyre solution. but i think it also shows a bigger problem, and that is that the cars are just to big and heavy. if they were more nimble i think it would also improve Monaco. Last option: make it rain on sunday via cloud seeding 😂

What if the track took a detour via left at Rascasse, with the pitlane entry unchanged? The pitlane time penalty could be brought down from ~20 seconds to ~5 second, and under VSC, you basically have to pit unless you don't have better tyres left. Opening up 5 seconds to give a teammate a free pitstops, is worth it. Especially to softs. Nothing stops them from making Monaco a 30 laps per set deal, 2 stops minimum. Combining these two things would sure get some pace into the race. Also, bring back hypersofts. Have to run them, but not for the start.

Thing is they have the roads in Monaco to get a better race, it amazed me when they reclaimed the land from the sea to develop the place further they didn't elect to try and fix the F1 problem. Monaco needs to be on the calendar. It is great and we need variety in events. Monaco is stunning. F1 and Monaco is a match made in heaven.

Thanks Marc, that was very informative! I watched Monaco of course, sadly very boring. But thanks to cooperation between Dorna and Liberty I was also able to watch three exciting motorcycle races from Barcelona. I was on the edge of my seat most of the time! I believe in traditions and Monaco has been run since 1929 - it should continue! I hope they can make it interesting. I've had the TV on in the background, muted. There is a re-run of Wheeler Dealers on with you and Mike! Greetigs from sunny Stockholm.

Can the track be made wider in some places to allow passing? It would take a lot, maybe buildings being relocated and an overhang on the wall after turn 1, but it’s Monaco. They have the resources to do it if chosen.

Build an extension to the track over the marina on floating pontoons. Begin at exiit of tunnel and rejoin at swimming pool chicane. One continuous curve with DRS zone.

Lance was incredible that was drive of the year , that is real track dominance from a real champion,

Perez didn't need to squeeze Kmag, there was plenty of room to the left. He looked into his right mirror three times, clearly more worried about Kmag than Hulk. Plenty of cars kept room to the right.

I'm here for the doggo

I would change the race distance from 78 laps to 0 laps. Move the season ending gala there if it's such a great time to attend, but as a "race" it's unacceptable.

I agree with you that for this race all 3 types of tyres should be required to be used, in whatever order the each team decides. And keep the tire blankets so we/the teams won't know what each team is starting the race on.

Would love to see williams back st the front. Never been a full supporter but always had a soft spot for the team

The FIA should ban tyre change during a red flag unless there are safety concerns, we say this every time a red flag gives someone a free pitstop but they never changed that rule.

Am I the only one who enjoyed the Monaco Gp. I know there’s not a lot of overtaking, but watching those cars skimming the barriers at over 150 mph is heart stopping. I do agree with Elvis about more tyre stops though. Seems a good idea.

Simplest suggestions: 1. Only bring the two softest compounds. 2. Mandate two pit stops. 3. Set a minimum lap time of about 105% of pole under dry, green flag conditions. (Two strikes then a drive through.)

I hadn't realised that Sainz had come so close to being excluded from the restart.

Seriously Elvis, Monaco F1 GP was a parade. So boring it was painful. What a tedious slow drawn out parade. I wish they could work a good overtaking zone into the track. Also, the 1st lap red flag should not have eliminated a mandated pit stop during regular racing. Eliminate the Nouvelle chicane and make the Tabac corner a bit trickier allowing for overtaking or open up la Rascasse. Something needs to be done. As to Perez, his time has come, maybe Red Bull needs to sign Sainz.

mandatory min 2 pit stops, all tyres(3 compounds) to be used, then its down to drivers / pit stop crews

Williams getting all their Circular References sorted in the spreadsheets. We can only hope!

Monaco one of the most hardest and important stage to win.

I truly believe Monaco has strengths and as a sport we should play to that strength. Everyone knows qualifying is the most exciting part, so taking a leaf out of the cycling handbook, the Sunday race is replaced by an individual time trial, all excuses are gone and sheer pace and bravery prevails, possibly reactive the ultra soft tyre, for this. Friday and Saturday would potentially follow the format of a sprint race weekend. This solution has action on all 3 days, plays to the strengths of the track and adds to the glamour and spectacle. I feel alternatives, would only get nullified by the engineers, their tools and huge knowledge would very quickly blunt any advantage of the other proposed solutions. This has been a thought of mine for a number of years and I’d really like to see it tried at the very least.

@F1Elvis Here's a thought. Half points for qualifying and half for the reverse grid race with mandatory 2 stops. You would have to plan strategy, gaps, tyre use AND you would need to find a way back to the front AND it would give the bottom half of the field more of a shot at points! 3 birds one stone?

Monaco has become an outlier, so I agree about making rules specific for the race. Maybe all three tires mandated. Maybe there’s free selection of tire so teams could go two stop for softs. Perhaps mandating the 107% rule for your FP3 fastest time. Anything to prevent these hold station half throttle Monaco races.

Beautyfull countryside, greets🎉

Remove the chicane after tunnel and after swimming pool, ergo overtake will happen

Good idea to run all the tyres ,maybe at other circuits as well . Make it like sprint races tell the teams at start of season which tracks all types of tyres to be used. Have to keep Monaco . Make qualifying run hard for first section medium for second and soft for third.

Good news about Williams and Carlos signing.

They should modify the circuit layout. add length and a couple of longer straightaways. Going up the hill vere left onto Princesse Alice, right onto Boulevard des Moulins, right onto Ave de la Madone back to the original circuit left at 'the bump'. Then at Portier go left before the bridge and around to the water. This lengthens the tunnel run in. Make the chicane a single jog onto the straight. Then get rid of the 2nd kink at the swimming pool for a straight run at La Rascasse. Oh, and make the damn cars a little smaller!

Interesting analysis, beautiful landscape, but we need more doggo screen time!

What about changing the track layout?I’ve seen drawings and visualizations of different versions of the track where a new straight is included after casino that incorporates a wide Boulevard that could provide a long fast section to add some passing opportunities?

They showed a great alternate layout on my TV broadcast, instead of right at La Rascasse, the track could go left along the port with a nice straight, a hairpin and another straight to go back to Anthony Noghés.

Get rid of the Nouvelle chicane, get rid of the tree's in the middle of the two roads that run down to Tabac, widen the road as much as possible after the Tunnel exit so you have a straight run down to Tabac on a wide boulevard with DRS as close to Tunnel exit as possible, reprofile the Tabac corner with a protec run off on the outside of the corner. I know there's road ramp at that end but it's not impossible to do something about that. And there we have it a genuine over taking spot.

They should make Sunday at Monaco a time trial. Qualifying on Saturday determines the starting position on Sunday, then on Sunday you start one car and then put out all the cars until the last (p1) car. You still need to do a mandatory tire stop but then you don't need to worry about overtaking you just need to be consistently fast over x amounts of laps.

Qualifying IS the race. I’ve said put all the drivers in identical shifter karts and let them have at it. Now that would be fun!

I like the idea of rotating Monaco. Been an F1 fad for many many decades (so a huge fan) but it really is a tedious race unless it’s raining. As you said, it’s all about the qualy. So, can more be done around that. The “importance” of Monaco is really just an opportunity for the out and out filthy rich to show off. From the boats, celebs wanting to be seen, fashion shows (oh how important they are!). It’s a reminder to the rest of the world what unreal wealth there is surrounding F1. Hmm. Ok. Sorry for the soap box!

Great show. Always value the unique insights. But the big question in my head is- are there trout in that stream. ? I’m not wanting to fish it - I live in New Zealand. Just curious. If so, I’ll look out for a rising trout next time. Best.

I, the app I love it.

First thing I would do is change qualifying. Split the grid into 2 groups of 10, have the top 5 in each group go on to the next session. Those 10 cars have another qualifying session to whittle it down to 5 and the fast 5 go for pole. Less congestion on track. Also I read earlier today about maybe changing the tire rules solely for Monaco where soft tires would only be used which would guarantee pit stops. Just my senile opinion.

Just a thought, F1 and Monaco go together ! How about allowing the teams to run an F2 chassis with a DFV Cosworth V8 ! Smaller car, sticky tyres that don't last and that beautiful sound resonating through the streets !

Alternating GPs is not gonna fix the Monaco problem, because every other GP F1 would still go back to the same problematic Monaco. Aren't there any wider streets in Monaco? Maybe it's finally time to update layout with the times. Keep some sections from current ones, but then take different turn somewhere where it goes out to some wider roads, where proper racing can happen. Did people had problem when they changed the legendary Silverstone layout? Maybe it's finally time to adjust Monaco with the current times as well? And when it comes to Checo replacements, isn't Yuki driving better than Checo in recent couple years?

Create a special formula - IndyCar has a whole individual aero package and formula specifically for Superspeedways (Indianapolis) because the formula from the other types of tracks simply would not work. Create a formula with different regulations for Monaco - shorter wheel base, lighter design, different wings, etc. IndyCar puts on the best race of the year nearly every year because they tailor a package and ruleset for it.

Well, Max is starting to be faced with the reality of decline (or other teams surpassing RB). Would not surprise me to see Max in a Mercedes next year and a year after that Antonelli in the other seat. Sure, that is my speculation, but the RB implosion is slow but seemingly undeniable. This will be interesting the next few months as things develop. A Monaco fix? how about mandating all three tire compounds?

My first visit to your site; but I have to apologise, mate. I did not hear a word you said as I kept being worried about the dog(s) with you 😂. Are they both yours? If so, you left one far behind! In terms of F1, I attended my first GP with my dad in 1968 but, sadly, it has been pretty much downhill since the 90s, in my opinion. The cars need to be shorter and narrower while maintaining safety standards. It is not only Monaco… Imola was pretty prosessional. I keep going back to Monza 1971 and, after watching that video, I am just smiling. “Them was the days…”

Bring back starting on Q2 tyres for top 10 to start on. No free stop on a red flag, can only swap to same compound if damaged and all 3 compounds need to be used during a (dry) race.

Is there any way to modify the track a little to encourage overtaking?

Thanks for sharing Marc. Saintz is an obvious fit for Red Bull... except something is rotten in the state of Denmark I have no excuses. I still watched every lap of the Monaco parade like I always do. This event is not sport. It is a parade for advertising platforms. Alternating solves nothing. They can dramatically improve the circuit if there is the will to do so. Or they could replace it with a race. There is an underlying problem that gets mentioned without serious attention given to improve it... The cars are way too big. Not a difficult problem to solve if they prioritise sporting entertainment. BTW - The sprint format has grown on me and it is a clear improvement for my entertainment over a non sprint weekend.

How about mandating 2 tyre stops for the top ten qualifiers. The bottom 10 starters can stop as many times as they like or potentially not at all?

James Vowels is by far the best manager in F1.

If Williams thinks they can get to the pointy end, they are going to need to get rid of Logi Bear!

Needs to be a special event and done as a time trial or something

Monaco has always been a race for the sponsors and drivers, as a fan, its not a race its a sponsorship parade. Bin it off, or create overtaking spots, remove the chicane after the tunnel and make the corner sharper and have tunnel DRS, that may help with 1 or 2 overtakes.

I was there . Monaco should always be on the calendar and I have over the years seen many great races. I think that a “dull” race can happen anywhere, particularly if you just look at the front. When you are at a race , you can watch the progress of the whole field , and it’s different to TV. That being said , there was so little overtaking this year , mainly because of tyres. Maybe if in Monaco , they had to run 3 sets and a minimum of 2 compounds , or if a red flag change didn’t count as being a “tyre change “ ? One thing that surprised me , was that as they were running as a cautious pace , that someone, particularly in the midfield didn’t take a more aggressive approach and do at least one extra stop, so run quicker , and push the slower cars .

To fix Monaco, look at the 1954 layout of the track for some ideas of what to do to the track to make it better for passing.

Monaco Needs a Joker Lap similar to Rallycross that has to be used "X" amount of times during the race by each driver

Very much hoping for a Williams resurgence as they are the team I’ve supported from my early days of watching F1 from 1979 onwards, admiring drivers like Jones, Rosberg and Mansell. I strongly believe that James Vowles is a man who can make it happen. Maybe Newey will go there. Well I can dream.

Monaco is so ingrained in F1 history, it has to be part of the season. Adding extra pitstops and compulsory use of 3 tire compounds sounds like a great option to spice things up. It's great to see Mclaren actually pushing Redbull and Ferrari too. I hope it keeps on going.

Wheeling and dealing

If Monaco is novel, then it needs to be novel and unique as a whole. Make it a weekend of qualifying, but in this format: Saturday's Quali determines either how many tires and/or how many qualifying laps a driver can make on Sunday. First gets 40 laps with 10 sets; 2nd gets 40 laps with 9 sets; 3rd gets 39 with with 9 sets; 4th gets 39 with 8 sets etc. down to 30 laps with 4 sets. All drivers have to use at least 3 compounds. On Sunday teams have 3 hours to post at least 30 full laps. The combined average will determine the winner. Points are also awarded on Saturdays for the top 10. Fastest lap on Sunday also brings in a good chunk. Lots of variety and brings the best out of Monaco, which is the mad dash during qualifying. And potentially no clear winner until all the big runners have finished.

I would rather give all the drivers equal go karts and watch them go at it around there!!!

add a short section of track somewhere that drivers have to use a number of times through the race, it could be faster or slower but would add some intrigue as to when it was used to get some clean air and attack to get past

Do a reverse grid. Give top 5 in quali points. And then reverse the grid with the race. Make a mandatory 3 stops. First 10 at the start are mandatory to start on softs, the rest on hard. And use every compound for the rest of the race.

AI dosen't quite know how Monaco looks like it seems. :D Easy fixes: - Extend the circuit so they go around the Portier roundabout at Portier; thus creating a longer straight before the tunnel and more overtaking opportunities. Semi-easy fixes: - Remake Anthony Noughes so they can overtake between Rascasse & Start-Finish Straight; un-necessary tight there now. Harder fixes: - Widen the track from Nouvelle chichane all the way to Rascasse. - Widen the track at Massenet half-way up the hill until Casino Square.